1. Field of the Invention
In general, the present invention relates to an apparatus, system and method of providing secondary containment in oil and gas operations such as but not limited to a tank battery. More particularly, the present invention provides a surface mount secondary containment system comprising prefabricated pieces that may be assembled to form a wall and adjoining corner with overlapping sections to capture leaks, spillage or the like from a primary liquid container member.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the oil and gas industry, a major concern facing the industry is the ever growing and constant concern with environmental impact of oil and gas production coupled with the ever increasing need to maximize efficiency and recovery of natural resources associated therewith. Prior art methods that were perfectly acceptable just years ago are now politically and environmentally unfriendly. Whereas it was acceptable to allow by products from well production to be released onto the ground, it is not considered a viable environmentally sound method to date.
A secondary containment system provides an essential line of defense in the event of a failure of the primary containment, such as a tank, a bulk storage container, a mobile or portable container, piping, or oil-filled equipment. These systems are designed to provide temporary containment of discharged oil and other pollutants until the appropriate actions are taken to abate the source of the discharge and remove the unwanted fluids from areas where it has accumulated to prevent it from polluting the environment.
Furthermore, in the oil and gas industry, the term “battery” generally refers to a group of containers called “tanks” that are a grouping of interconnected storage tanks situated to receive the output of one or more wells for crude oil production and or a producing lease. A tank battery is also called a battery. Typically, in the tank battery, the oil volume is measured and tested before pumping the oil into the pipeline system and the group of tanks at a well site are used to store oil prior to sale to a pipeline company. A typical tank battery contains one or more tanks and usually has a capacity equal to four days production.
Concern for environmental pollution has resulted in governmental requirements that certain sites such as tank batteries in the oil and gas industry provide a containment system also referred to as secondary containment to guard against leaking from the operation into the surroundings. For several liquids, federal, state and local regulations require double containment systems for the protection of groundwater. General secondary containment requirements apply to bulk storage containers, portable containers, production tank battery, treatment and separation installations, oil filled operational or process equipment and transfer activities.
The EPA suggests providing secondary containment by dikes, berms, or retaining walls, curbing or drip pans, sumps and collection systems, culverting, gutters, or other drainage systems, weirs, booms, or other barriers, spill diversion ponds, retention ponds and sorbent materials. Specific containment provisions apply to bulk storage containers, loading/unloading racks, single compartment of a tank car or tank truck at a loading/loading rack, mobile/portable bulk storage containers, as well as production tank batteries, treatment and separation installations.
It is also desirable to provide secondary containment for other oil and gas operations other than the above. By example, it is often desirable to provide a temporary containment system during the drilling process around whole location, during fracking around storage containers called frack tanks and so forth.
In the prior art, berms and other types of walls have been utilized to provide the needed secondary containment. However, these prior art systems typically require either moving dirt to create the berm or digging into the dirt to form a pillar system for placing wall panels against. It is not unusual for oil and gas companies to prefer a surface mount as opposed to the prior art devices to minimize ground disturbance. Surface mounts are preferred when the ground pad has been treated to create a solid surface that will inhibit the soaking-in of fluids; the ground pad may contain solid bed-rock as its base and installing the prior art metal secondary containment is labor intensive, time consuming and therefore cost prohibitive; the company's personal preference and so forth.
It is obviously desirable to provide secondary containment in oil and gas operations in general and more specifically tank battery operations. The balance of cost, time and operational efficiency has created a need for a new and improved secondary containment system and method. Thus, there is a need for an apparatus, method and system that provides a secondary containment system for utilization in the oil and gas field as well as other applications where it is desirable to provide secondary containment that maximizes efficiency and is environmentally friendly. The current invention provides an inexpensive, time saving, more reliable apparatus, system and method where the prior art fails.